January 2019 North American Blizzard
The January 2019 North American blizzard was a strong and powerful blizzard that struck between January 22-26 in Central and Eastern North America. Forming out of an Alberta clipper over Southwestern Canada, the storm produced light snow in the Northern Plains on January 22-23 before producing heavier snow in the Upper Midwest and Ohio Valley on January 23-24. The storm system later developed into a powerful nor'easter striking the Eastern Seaboard between January 24-26, plaguing it with heavy snow. The storm was given various unofficial names such as Blizzard Donald or the Blizzard of 2019. In advance of the storm, blizzard warnings were issued for several states along the Eastern Seaboard and in Central Appalachia. As much as 70 inches of snow were reported in the hardest hit areas. Tornadoes were also confirmed in other areas as well. Meteorological history On January 22, an Alberta clipper formed over Southwestern Canada and moved southeastwards. There was little moisture to supply the clipper, so it produced light snowfall in the Northern Plains while frontogenesis took place. The Weather Predicition Center began to issue storm summaries as the clipper spawned a surface low at the Kansas/Missouri border at 12:00 UTC on January 23. The same day, a weak low pressure system spawned off the coast of Texas and began to produce light snowfall in the Gulf Coast region. The system gradually picked more moisture as it moved eastward along the Gulf Coast before fringing with the other system while it was located between the Ohio Valley and Central Appalachia. At 0:00 UTC, a new surface low had developed off the coast of North Carolina with a central pressure of 1,000 millibars, later becoming the dominant low of the nor'easter. As the storm system moved offshore, it pressure began to rapidly deepen reaching 954 millibars while located offshore of Delaware at 12:00 UTC on January 24. This caused heavy snow bands in the Central Applachian and Mid-Atlantic regions. The storm slowly began to weaken as it moved further offshore, but still produced heavy snow bands in New England and parts of Southeastern Canada. By 14:00 UTC on January 25, most of the snow had ended in Mid-Atlantic state before ending in Canada and New England at 6:00 UTC on January 26. The blizzard, accompanied by a powerful jet stream, crossed the North Atlantic Ocean passing between Iceland and the British Isles on January 27, causing moderate snow to fall across the British Isles with rain in Iceland. The storm system then made a 3/4 turn and moved into the North Sea causing more snow in the British Isles and rain in Southern Scandinavia before being absorbed by another system on January 28. Snowfall Totals by State Montana: 1.2 inches in Frazer North Dakota: 1.8 inches in New Salem South Dakota: 2.4 inches in Lower Brule Wyoming: 1.7 inches in Sussex Colorado: 2.2 inches in Iliff Nebraska: 2.7 inches in Oshkosh Kansas: 1.9 inches in Oberlin Missouri: 4.1 inches in Mexico Iowa: 7.5 inches in Wilton Minnesota: 0.8 inches in Browns Valley Oklahoma: trace in Wright City Texas: 0.9 inches in Nacogdoches Lousiana: 1.3 inches in Clarence Arkansas: 0.2 inches in Homan Tennessee: 2.1 inches in Trentville Georgia: 2.3 inches in Monroe Florida: 1.1 inches in Crestview South Carolina: 2.9 inches in Clinton North Carolina: 41.0 inches in Shatley Springs Illinois: 8.8 inches in Havana Indiana: 9.7 inches in Jefferson Kentucky: 9.8 inches in Grayson Michigan: 15.6 inches in Adrian Ohio: 34.6 inches inches in Newark West Virginia: 70.0 inches in Shady Spring Virginia: 38.5 inches in Shenandoah National Park Maryland: 54.6 inches in Little Orleans Washington D.C.: 20.9 inches at Dupont Circle Pennsylvania: 46.4 inches in McConnellsburg Delaware: 11.7 inches in Bridgeville New Jersey: 28.2 inches in Lambertville New York: 36.3 inches in Phoenicia Connecticut: 18.3 inches in Salisbury Rhode Island: 15.1 inches in Burillville Massachusetts: 29.8 inches in Williamstown Vermont: 41.9 inches in Killington New Hampshire: 45.3 inches in Gorham Maine: 55.1 inches in Portage Lake A trace of snow was also recorded in Perry, Utah on January 22, because of energy that broke away from the dominant system. Tornadoes January 22 Event